Technical Abstract:
Mosquitoes are the single most important group of insects in terms of public health significance and causing diseases such as malaria, filariasis, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and other fevers. There has been an outbreak of Chikungunya and dengue all over the India from 2006 – 2009. Aedes aegypti, commonly known as the Yellow Fever Mosquito, is a mosquito that can host the dengue fever, Chikungunya and yellow fever viruses. Moreover, chemical insecticides to control mosquitoes were favored so far. But they are nonselective and potentially harmful to other beneficial organisms. Some synthetic chemical insecticides are carcinogenic agents that can be carried through food chain and, in turn, affect the non-target organisms. Alternative pest control strategies, especially effective and low cost are thus needed. Hence, in the present investigation an attempt has been made to evaluate the impact of neem active principle, Azadiracthin with other microbial insecticides (Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus sphaericus, Beauveria bassiana, spinosad, nanomaterials and copepods) on dengue vector, Aedes aegypti. Lethal concentrations were determined for the neem active principal and its combination with microbial insecticides against mosquito larvae. Field trials were conducted at the breeding sites of different agro-climatic zone of Tamil Nadu. Predatory efficacy of copepod was tested on immature stages of dengue vector. The results are correlated and discussed on the effect of neem active principal and microbial pesticides on the mosquito vectors and changing efficacy of biopesticides against mosquito vectors management.